The Staffordshire Bull Terrier breed of dog was
recognized by the Kennel Club of England in 1935.
This was the first official recognition of the
Stafford as a Breed of dog.

But before recognition, a club had to be formed and
a Standard drawn up. From John F. Gordon's book "The
Staffordshire Bull Terrier" published in 1971 we
have the following historical commentary found on
page 39 of that wonderful publication.

MAKING THE STANDARD

Making the Standard was one of the first
duties that fell to the SBTC. It was
gone into thoroughly by a body of
experts, men with years of experience
and ownership in the breed. Two good
current dogs were set up as excellent
examples of the breed. They were Harry
Pegg's Joe (Fearless Joe) and Mrs. J.
Shaw's Jim (Jim the Dandy), the former a
fawn, the latter a brindle. Their
anatomy and structural points were
examined, and a lot of old sketches,
prints and photographs discussed. It
will be understood that in any breed,
provided a number of examples are
available, some features will be more or
less uniform or common to the majority.
Assuming that these characteristics are
sound ones they can then be accepted as
being typical of the breed. Some
difficulties were at first experienced
in the discussions, for a wide range of
types and sizes existed in Staffords in
those days. It was natural that those
who owned the big bulldoggy types
claimed theirs were the right type,
while those with the long-muzzled
lightweights supported theirs. It needed
a lot of tact and discretion on the part
of club officials to convince these
enthusiasts who was right and who was
wrong, while still retaining their
interest, to say nothing of their
memberships. Clearly, the Stafford as a
fighting dog had natural physical
attributes expected of a combatant
canine. Where these were found common to
a number of dogs they were accepted as
desiderata in the breed, and eventually
a Standard was formulated and passed to
the Kennel Club for approval. For some
time argument was rife in Staffordshire
towns like Walsall, Darlaston, and
Cradley Heath, each of which had
different ideas as to what constituted a
good Stafford. However, as their opinion
in the main of a good Stafford was one
that fought and won, they were hardly
qualified to pass worthwhile comment of
any kind on what constituted a good type
for exhibition.

What is a Breed Standard?

A good answer to this question
was given in the book "The Staffordshire Bull
Terrier in America" edited by Steve Eltinge, and was
as follows:

An official standard is
a blueprint for a breed of dog. Every
breed recognized by the United Kennel
Club and the American kennel Club has a
standard. Some standards (like the one
for Staffordshire Bull Terriers) are
simple; others (like the Great Dane
Standard) contain thousands of words
detailing virtually every aspect of the
dog's conformation. These standards or
"blueprints" describe an ideal to which
breeders attempt to conform. It is the
responsibility of UKC and AKC judges to
thoroughly familiarize themselves with
the standards for each breed that they
are approved to judge. Judges must then
evaluate exhibitors' dogs according to
the degree to which each dog represents
the Official Standard.

The Official Standard
for the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, like
all other standards, is written from a
positive perspective. Pure-bred dog
standards describe what is desirable and
correct. Virtue, not fault, is
emphasized. Standards mention faults as
well as disqualifications but the intent
is to describe the ideal. Thus, each
breeder has a model or framework from
which he or she may form a mental
picture of the ideal dog. It is the task
of the judge to grade the efforts of the
breeders in attendance through a system
of awards. This is a vital process for
those involved in raising purebred dogs.
Without standards, dog shows, and
judges, the identity of all breeds would
probably soon be lost.

Since there are no
perfect dogs in any breed, illustrated
standards are usually presented
graphically. This allows the artist to
selectively add the best parts of
several dogs to a composite drawing. In
this chapter photographs are used to
illustrate the Official Standard.
Although not perfect in every regard,
the dogs depicted here demonstrate the
ideal according to each particular
section of the Standard. Photos and
drawings are also used to illustrate
faults.

The Official Standard
for the Staffordshire Bull Terrier was
accepted by the American Kennel Club in
1974. In 1975, the first Staffordshire
Bull Terriers were shown in the Terrier
Group at AKC shows.

The one thing that a Standard cannot describe is
the intangibles of spirit, intelligence, heart and
tenaciousness. The Stafford is more than the written
standard and there is a lot more to him than can be
seen by a show judge and his identity is more than
can be seen in the show ring.

Picture is used with the
approval of Griet Coetzer(Zeracious Stafford's)

STAFFORDSHIRE
BULL TERRIER OFFICIAL BREED STANDARD

GENERAL APPEARANCE

Smooth-coated, well balanced, of
great strength for his size. Muscular, active and
agile.

CHARACTERISTICS

Traditionally of indomitable
courage and tenacity. Highly intelligent and
affectionate especially with children.

Legs straight and well boned, set
rather wide apart, showing no weakness at the
pasterns, from which point feet turn out a little.
Shoulders well laid back with no looseness at elbow.

BODY

Close-coupled, with level top
line, wide front, deep brisket, well sprung ribs;
muscular and well defined.

HINDQUARTERS

Well muscled, hocks well let down
with stifles well bent. Legs parallel when viewed
from behind.

FEET

Well padded, strong and of medium
size. Nails black in solid coloured dogs.

TAIL

Medium length, low-set, tapering
to a point and carried rather low. Should not curl
much and may be likened to an old-fashioned pump
handle.

GAIT / MOVEMENT

Free, powerful and agile with
economy of effort. Legs moving parallel when viewed
from front or rear.

Discernible drive from hind legs.

COAT

Smooth, short and close.

COLOUR

Red, fawn, white, black or blue,
or any one of these colours with white. Any shade of
brindle or any shade of brindle with white. Black
and tan or liver colour highly undesirable.

SIZE

Desirable height at withers 36 -
41 cms (14 to 16 ins), these heights being related
to the weights.

Weight:

Dogs: 13 - 17 kgs (28 - 38
lbs);

Bitches: 11 - 15.4 kgs (24
- 34 lbs).

FAULTS

Any departure from the foregoing
points should be considered a fault and the
seriousness with which the faultshould be
regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree
and its effect on health & welfare of the dog...

NOTE

Male animals should have two
apparently normal testicles fully descended into the
scrotum.